The chart above shows the population density of each urban area with a population of over 500,000. The urban areas have been normalized so as to avoid any inconsistencies with how cities and their metropolitan areas are defined by their governments. Each urban area has similar characteristics making this the definitive method with which to compare cities across various countries. All urban areas over 10,000 people per square kilometer (25,900 people per square mile) in South America belong to either Colombia or Peru.
Findings
- The difference between the urban area with the greatest population density, Bogota, and the urban area with the least, Cuiaba, is 14,116 people per square kilometer (36,560 people per square mile).
- Bogota has 7.65 times the population density that Cuiaba does.
- The median population density of urban areas with a minimum population of 500,000 in South America is 5,071 people per square kilometer (13,134 people per square mile) and the mean 6,094.43 people per square kilometer (15,785 people per square mile).
Caveats
- Data is from 2020.
- The methodology for how these urban areas have been defined can be found in the source link below. As of this writing this is the most reliable way to compare urban areas throughout the world.
- Some of these urban areas span several states, and the state that is being used here is the one where the core of the urban area is located. For instance, Milan's urban area spans both Italy and Switzerland, but since the core of the urban area is in Italy it would be listed as an Italian urban area and not a Swiss one.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest whole.
Details
Only 10 of the 15 South American states have urban areas with at least 500,000 people. Of these, the Brazil has 36; Colombia has nine; Argentina has eight; Venezuela has seven; Peru has four; Chile and Bolivia each have three; Ecuador has two; and Paraguay and Uruguay each have one.
All but two of the nine urban areas with a population of over 500,000 people that have a population density of over 10,000 people per square kilometer (25,900 people per square mile) are located in Colombia, the other two are in Peru. All but one of the five urban areas with a population of over 500,000 people that have a population density less than 3,000 people per square kilometer (7,770 people per square mile) are located in Brazil, while one is in Bolivia.
Colombia has the largest mean population density in its urban areas of over 500,000 people with a mean of 12,891 people per square kilometer (33,388 people per square mile) distributed among its nine urban areas. Peru has the second largest mean population density in its urban areas of over 500,000 people with a mean of 9,041 people per square kilometer (23,416 people per square mile) distributed among its four urban areas.
Colombia has the largest median population density in its urban areas of over 500,000 people with a median of 13,590 people per square kilometer (35,198 people per square mile) distributed among its nine urban areas. Peru has the second largest median population density in its urban areas of over 500,000 people with a median of 10,113 people per square kilometer (26,193 people per square mile) distributed among its four urban areas.
The Falkland Islands (Malvinas), French Guiana, Guyana, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and Suriname do not have any urban areas with a population of over 500,000 inhabitants.
Sources
Demographia. 2021. "Demographia World Urban Areas: 16th Annual Edition." Accessed March 9, 2021. http://demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf.